Outside the royal capital, on a street in town, the exquisite buildings that should have been filled with exotic charm on both sides had collapsed in a sprawling mess.
Zoro furrowed his brow, the green bandana he usually wore around his arm now tied around his head.
He only did that when facing a powerful opponent. Standing before him was a tall, dark-skinned bald man, a scar like a vicious centipede crawling across the corner of his eye.
There was naturally only one opponent worthy of making Zoro this serious: Mr. 1, Baroque Works' top agent and the one closest to the boss in strength.
Daz Bonez, the famed assassin from West Blue—the user of the Paramecia Dice-Dice Fruit.
"You're wasting your time, Roronoa."
Daz's deep voice carried a trace of disdain, and judging from his calm expression, he truly believed it.
His arms were crossed before his chest, fingers curled like claws, but the insides of those fingers gleamed with cold, blade-like light.
"I ate the Dice-Dice Fruit. I cut people apart. As a swordsman, you cannot defeat me!"
"Heh. You're pretty full of yourself."
Zoro answered in a low, icy voice. His body was already covered in blood.
Though he sounded unconcerned, the truth was that after fighting this long, he had failed to leave even a single wound on his opponent.
"A man who looks down on swordsmen despite using blades? You're a strange one."
"I'm not a swordsman. Don't call me that."
Daz remained expressionless, like a cold-blooded killer straight out of a movie. He bent his legs slightly, then kicked off the ground and shot forward.
Leaning low as he rushed in, he crossed his arms over his chest and slashed them outward at Zoro.
"Slicing Slash!"
Clang—!
Ssh! Ssh!
The sound of blocking and